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The father of a seven-year-old, who died after the quadbike she was riding was in a head-on collision with a Range Rover on a country lane late on Boxing Day, has been arrested.

Elizabeth Cooke and her brother Jack, 10, had been given quadbikes for Christmas and were riding behind a Range Rover driven by their father Gary, 46, when the accident happened, police said.

The children were going down a hill on a narrow road near the family home in Blackmore, Essex, when Elizabeth’s machine was in collision with another Range Rover travelling in the opposite direction.

Earlier this week police said the driver of the Range Rover involved in the collision, a 28-year-old local woman, was not being charged with any offence.

A spokesman said a 46-year-old local man had been arrested by officers investigating the crash. He would not named the man, but sources close to the inquiry said Elizabeth’s father had been arrested.

Elizabeth was taken to her home, about half a mile away, after the crash.

Ambulance crews were then called to the house after paramedics were told that the girl had “suffered internal injuries”.

Police said the youngster died shortly after arriving at hospital in nearby Chelmsford.

Post-mortem tests showed she had suffered multiple injuries.

Police said Elizabeth was riding a red petrol-engined Pro Shark quadbike. A spokesman said it was illegal for anyone under 16 to ride a quadbike on a public road. And he said officers were investigating “all the circumstances” of the accident.